Once again there has been lots of activity and enjoyment for me and I have been neglecting updating the blog. But part of that was due to the fact that parts of Pakistan have closed all the internet cafes. Partly because they are a target for terror attacks, and the Taliban aren't fond of such modern tools.

I have been here for about 10 days now, and I have really enjoyed my time here. It compares very favorably to it's neighbor and rival India. It seems a little cleaner...the ground at least, I can't say the same about the air, full of filthy rickshaw pollution. There are much fewer beggars. The roads and buses are luxurious compared to India. The people don't have that gleam in their eye that says'"There's a backpacker, lets see how much money we can squeeze out of him." They don't stare at you like in India either, I feel much more anonymous, especially when I'm wearing my Shalwar Kameez. Which is the shirt pant/combo that most of the men wear over here.

These are a few of the reasons I decided to come to Pakistan. I had heard such good things about the people. On the news and in the paper all you hear about are the Taliban and the terrorists up in the Swat Valley. And I think all the Pakistani people get painted with the same negative brush. I am hear to tell you that they are very generous and helpful. I barely ever pay for a cup of tea, and a couple times I've had my whole meal paid for by strangers that I had just met moments before.

My Pakistan journey has taken me to three places so far. I stared in the Punjab, in the city of Lahore. Then I traveled over to the Northwest Frontier Province...what a name, eh? And presently I'm up on the Karakorem highway in Gilgit, which is a bascamp for exploring the endless pssibilities of the northern area.
Lahore was a great city, except for the heat and pollution. It was 43/110 degrees everyday. Coming from India, which I passed through briefly on my way to the border, it as organized treat. There are stoplights, sidewalks and a bit of organization. They had nice parks all over town, and they weren't full of people sleeping in them, or cutting down trees for fuel. The first couple day there I traversed the city, visiting mosques and markets. But the next couple days were spent watching parts of movies at the hostel with other travelers. We could only watch parts of movies because of the hourly power cuts. When I wasn't watching movies I was most likely drinking fresh mango, peach or banana shakes at one of the many cheap juices stands surrounding the hotel.
Peshawar was the next stop. It is a few hours west of Lahore on the smooth highway. Compared to Lahore, Peshawar is much more conservative in their Muslim beliefs. Much of this is due to their Pashtun ethnicity. In Lahore there would be trannies cruising the streets at night. In Peshawar all you'd see is bearded policemen. In my 2 days in Peshawar, I only saw a handful of men without a Shalwar Kameez. Most of the women were in Burka's, which covered their whole face. Women were allowed out on their own though, and there are woman's schools. The Taliban hasn't had that much influence on the people here. Even though they aren't too far away. Afghanistan is just 60km's west and all the fighting in the Swat Valley is a few hours north of here. You can feel the fear when you talk to the Peshawar people. People would say, "You shouldn't walk down that street," or "You should go back to your hotel at night or you'll get kidnapped." I never felt in any danger there, but the fear that the locals had of fighting and bombs was very real. what was also real was the car bomb that exploded hours before i arrived in town. Very sadly it killed atleast 10 people. We saw all the coverage on the new when we ( me and a Brazilian fella) arrived in the evening. The next day, walking around, we discovered the blast at the cinema was just 10 minutes walk from hour hotel. So there is some definite action gong on there. I really did meet some great people though, and drank lots of delicious green tea. The smartest people I met were all 18 year old students. they spoke great English and we talked much of the political situation of Pakistan.

I would have liked to say longer in Peshawar, but with the current situation, didn't feel comfortable traveling alone in the surrounding area and villages, plus with the continued heat, I chose to head north, to my current location of Gilgit. It was another epic journey on the NATCO bus. 20 hours in the back of a bus with shocks that were shot, and a bumpy, windy Karakorum highway. I'm glad it was night for half the journey so I didn't have to look at the precipitous drops down to the Indus river. It was a scenic journey though, stunning view of the 7500m peaks in the background. I'll be up in the north, exploring mountain passes and river valleys, avoiding Afghan, Chinese and occupied Kashmir (India) for 3 weeks maybe. I don't have much of a plan. But it takes more organization than anything in Nepal. I can't just show up at a trail head and have everything laid out in front of me for 3 weeks. I'm looking forward to being one of the few tourists in this Shangri-La. There are dozens of mountains and villages that are calling my name. It's very exciting to have all these adventures ahead of me.